Gen Elise Xiaojuan

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Wearing Seth's 4-H duct tape top hat.Yes, I know it's not really a Christmassy looking picture, but it was too cute to pass up!Unwrapping a name puzzle from Aunt Gisele and Uncle Peter.All the kids together by the tree. Gen wasn't too thrilled about getting her picture taken at that particular moment. (Notice the shiner on Aidan's forehead... He didn't wait for Ethan to get out of the way when they were sledding, and hit Ethan's snowboard head on, Ouch!) Me and big brother Seth... Gen just loved this sweater from Aunt Carmen andUncle Rod, and wanted to put it on over her dress.Fascinated by a slinky...Really? That gift is for me?This panda from Aunt Jo and Uncle Tony is almost as big as I am!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Very beautiful park with tons of animals.Below is just a sampling from what we saw.

Bamboo trees on one of the walkways. Incredible to walk through...This is the "train" (notice the regular wheels) that we took for part

of the day to ride around and see part of the park. Some of the animals were behind electrified wire but some, like the camel, were roaming around free and came right up beside the train. His head got a little clipped off... hard to take pictures from a moving vehicle...This feeding area for the giraffes was awesome. You can only get a small sense from the picture what it was like, but there were tons of different animals just roaming around in this area. It really made you feel like you were on an African safari. Really cool.This was the walking portion of the Safari Park. Here's Paul walking Gen in the stroller on one of the larger walkways. Very lush surroundings.Me, holding and petting a baby tiger cub (for 20 Yuan, about the equivalent of $3). He looks pretty content here, but he was pretty squirmy, and snarled a few times. It really gave you a taste of the power of these animals. When he snarled and showed his teeth, I realized even this little cub could take a good hunk out of me if he really wanted to. Feeding the giraffes... their tongues were a riot.The highlight of the park... of course at the very end of the park, so you have to walk through everything else to see them... the pandas.A couple pics of birds at the very end before you walk out of the park... flamingos and some kind of red bird that I didn't get a chance to read the sign on what they were.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

A good picture representation of the chaos that goes on when trying to get 10 fidgeting, sometimes fussing and crying toddlers to pose for a photo together. I thought Gen would do well, but as soon as I tried to sit her down she started to cry. In the end I hid behind her (as did a few other Moms and Dads) and discreetly hand fed her Cheerios one by one to keep her happy.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

So glad to finally be home, breathing fresh Maine air, sleeping in our own bed, brushing our teeth with the water from the faucet instead of bottled water, and hugging our other children! The trip home was long but Gen did incredibly well. We brought a car seat for the plane rides and she only cried the first time we put her in it, for about a half hour. After that she was a peach, and slept on and off most of the way home, praise God! If she had been really fussy the whole way, it would have been torture, since we had four layovers coming back... yep, four... Guangzhou to Beijing, Beijing to San Fran, SF to Chicago, Chicago to Portland, Maine. I don't think I want to see the inside of another plane for a long time, ha ha.

Sorry I didn't post again before we left Guangzhou. Gen did end up developing a fever in the middle of the night after her shots on Monday. She went back and forth with it for the rest of the week and we started to get concerned we might get stopped in the airport on the way home. Not sure if they really would have cared since we were leaving the country, but we didn't want to take any chances. We emailed home for everyone to pray and God is faithful; her fever broke overnight!

I also am in awe that she is doing so well sleeping. I was concerned about her having jetlag and being awake all night but when we got home (midnight) she slept through the night and last night was her second night and she slept till 7:45! Thank you Lord for small miracles!

Here's some more pics from our trip. Now that I can post them directly; I can add a bunch all at once. Enjoy! Eating the famous local beef noodles in Lanzhou... Yum!

This statue was erected by the people of Lanzhou as a tribute to the Yellow River, which is said to be the Mother River of China. We were only two couples receiving our children in the province of Gansu. This is the other couple, Rick and Ann, and their little boy who they named... are you ready for this?..... Paul! We could tell from the pictures they showed us that he was going to be a little bundle of energy, and boy was he! Big Paul was dubbed "Uncle Paul" and he lost no time in tickling his new found nephew, much to little Paul's enjoyment!

Our guide while in Lanzhou - Kaiger (prounced like Tiger but with a K) Picture taken at a local park.Little Paul enjoying a ride in the park. Gen was sleeping on Daddy so we didn't want to wake her.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Just a quick post to say that Gen's medical went really well. Her TB test is negative. Yay! However, she did have to have five shots... she wasn't too happy about that.... but she bounced back quickly and has been great all day since, with no fever or after effects. Will post more later when I have a chance. Have to get to bed. We have a full day tomorrow! Lots of love, Cheryl, Paul and Gen.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

This is our last day in Lanzhou. Later today we will be flying out to Guangzhou for Gen's medical appts. and Visa. Gen is adjusting well. She does prefer me to Paul, but Daddy can make her giggle better than I can. Mommy's the comforter; Daddy's the funny guy! At breakfast the other day he was raising his eyebrows up and down at her, and the next thing I know she is doing it back at him! It was sooo funny, and very cute!

I started teaching Gen a couple signs in ASL, eat and more. I had only done them a few times and was floored when she signed more back to me at supper last night! Such a smart little girl! She also wipes her chin with a napkin when she feels drool or food coming out of her mouth.

We are getting a lot of attention here in Lanzhou. Sometimes when we walk outside we feel like a freak show at the circus (Paul's description not mine). It is good attention though. Everyone is very curious about the children (we are here with another couple and their little boy.) and want to ask questions. I don't think people see a lot of Americans here, much less with Chinese babies. We went to a grocery store and the clerks all gathered around us to talk and ask questions and then before we left one young woman gave us a bag full of little cookies for the children! Very sweet.

We wish our flight today was to go home instead of another province for another week. Can't wait to squeeze our other children and breathe some fresh Maine air. The air here is very smoggy and there is a lot of smoking here. My throat is hurting me and I'm starting to get a little sick. Hopefully Guangzhou is not as bad air wise.

Well, I should get off the computer and start getting ready. Have a wonderful weekend! I'll post more when we get to Guangzhou.